Times Infinity and One
by apathyempathy
Summary: Created for Pezberry week, day Two. The First Kiss. After a horrible day at school, Rachel sets out to show Santana that they will always have each other. Kid!Pezberry.


**It's late here and I should definitely have been in bed a while ago considering how early I have to get up but I wanted to get this finish first. I stand by my choice but there might be some typos etc, please be gentle!**

**Here's my first submission for Pezberry week. The Pezberry first kiss. I don't exactly know why my brain went down the kid!pezberry road but I'm glad it did Santana and Rachel as first-graders was a lot of fun to write.**

Rachel frowned as she tucked her hands inside the pockets of her coat. Her Daddy, Hiram, had brought it in celebration of her first perfect score on her spelling test and she had barely taken it off ever since. It was bright yellow, her favourite colour, and had a big furry hood that made her feel warm and snuggly even when it snowed outside like it did today. But even her special coat wasn't enough to bring a smile to her face as she trudged off the bus with her best friend following closely behind.

Dragging her little legs up the driveway to her front door Rachel could see both her father's waiting in the doorway. Normally it was only her Daddy who would be there waiting for her but on special days her Dad would finish work early and come back and help them bake cookies and watch cartoons. Those days were always the best but somehow Rachel couldn't get as excited as she usually would and she knew that had everything to do with the silent little girl at her side.

"Hey Pumpkin!" Hiram beamed as he watched his daughter meander up the path, "How was school today?"

Rachel shrugged as she let him take her bag, it was almost unheard of for her not to launch into a long rant about all the things she had done that day and she saw her Daddies exchanged worried looks. Edging closer to her Daddy she waited for him to bend down before she whispered into his ear, "Santana is sad."

Hiram nodded as he turned his warm smile to Santana, "Is that so? Well, how about we get you both inside and make some hot chocolate?"

"Yay!" Rachel cheered as she clapped her hands together and looked to her friend. Her cheering stopped as she realised Santana was still gazing sadly at the ground, her lips sealed tightly together as she avoided looking at anyone. Looking back to her Daddy Rachel bit her lip but before she could even ask, he seemed to read her mind.

Twisting his body slightly Hiram opened his arms and gently encouraged Santana closer, he had been looking after the little girl ever since she and Rachel had met on the first day of kindergarten and he had never seen her so quiet. When Santana quickly moved towards him and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck he hoisted her up into his arms and carried her inside the house. He knew better than to jump in and ask either of the girls what was wrong, a situation like this needed chocolate and lots of it.

Placing Santana down at the kitchen table he smiled as he watched Rachel hop up on the seat next to her and begin assembling a pile of paper and crayons that had been stacked ready for their arrival home from school. It was almost as much a part of his daily routine as brushing his teeth was, and there was an abundance of drawings and doodles plastered on every wall in the house to attest to that.

Hiram quickly set about making the hot chocolates and it wasn't long before he joined his husband, who by now was sat quietly watching the two girls draw. Placing the mugs down on the table he chuckled at Rachel's enthusiastic grin.

"Thanks Daddy!" she beamed her tiny hands grasping the mug carefully as she temporarily abandoned her drawing in favour of her drink. Flicking her gaze to her friend she frowned, "Don't you want yours Santi?"

Santana bit her lip as she looked up, her eyes landing on the mug she nodded.

"Here you go, sweetie." Leroy said as he moved it to closer to her. His smile dropping as she nervously took the drink but stayed silent.

"You can't stay silent forever." Rachel whispered, her quiet voice echoing around the table.

Santana merely shrugged as she looked down at her drawing. She knew she couldn't but she really, really want to at least until her Mami came to pick her up later.

Hiram shifted in his seat and shooting his husband a confused glance he brought out his secret weapon. Marshmallows. He knew neither of the girls could resist and he knew that Santana in particular had a weakness for the fluffy little pillows of goodness. So placing them in-between the girls he took the opportunity to ask, "What happened at school today?"

He didn't miss the pleading look Santana sent Rachel but he knew his little girl would never stay quiet about something that was upsetting her friend.

"There's a new boy in our class and he was mean to Santana." Rachel blurted out, her eyes darting from her fathers to her friend as she added, "He called her names and he…he…"

Leroy clasped his hands together on the table in an attempt to stay calm, he didn't need to ask considering he had a pretty good idea about what his daughter was going to say but with a gentle smile he queried, "What did he do sweetie?"

Rachel blinked heavily, her eyes watering as she remembered the crushed look on her friends face when the new boy had yelled at her, "He said she speaks funny."

Hiram sighed heavily as looked at Santana; he could see the way her shoulders were beginning to shake as she held back tears and his heart tightened in his chest as he watched the little girl shrink down in her chair as if she was trying not to be seen.

"He called her a…a…horrible name." Rachel whispered, not wanting to repeat the bad word that had made her best friend cry in the middle of the playground, her best friend who didn't cry at anything except having to go back to her own house instead of staying with her and her Daddies, "And he said that he didn't want to play with her because he couldn't understand what she was saying."

"Oh sweetie." Hiram sighed as he quickly got up from his seat and circled the table to crouch down next to Santana; ducking his head he tried to catch her eye, "Look at me."

Santana sniffed as she lifted her head, with a trembling lip she let him wipe away some of her tears.

"You mustn't listen to people like that, okay?" Hiram began, "You are a wonderful little girl, you're funny and smart and Rachel tells me all the time that you are her best friend. Isn't that right baby girl?"

"Right!" Rachel shouted as she raised herself to kneel in her chair, her little body half resting on the table as she leant over her friend, "You're my best friend in the whole world Santi, and I don't care what anyone says. I like the way you speak and best of all I like the things you say. You're nice and kind, not like that horrible boy."

Santana smiled, her eyes shining brightly as she looked at Rachel, "Pr-promise?"

"Promise." Rachel stated with a big smile, she had worried for a moment that Santana really was going to stay silent forever and that was a horrible thought. Who would tell her funny stories and sing along to the radio with her? She'd miss the way Santana made her 'r's do that funny thing that she couldn't do no matter how hard she tried and she wouldn't be able to learn new words any more.

Leroy smiled as he watched his daughter wrap an arm around her friend, with a quick nod of his head towards his husband he waited for Hiram to stand up, "Did you tell your teacher what happened?"

Santana nodded her voice still unusually quiet she seemed to be trying especially hard to pronoun her words perfectly, "Yes, Rachel helped me – Mr Cole said he called Mami."

"Good." Leroy replied before meeting his husbands stare, he knew Hiram was thinking the same thing as him, "Girls, we just need to go and make a few phone calls. Will you be okay here for a moment?"

Santana gave a half smile as Rachel said, "Of course but…"

"But what sweetie?"

"Can Santana stay over tonight? I-I know it's a school night but well…I thought since she already has some pyjamas and things here she doesn't need anything. She can borrow my things if she needs to and-"

Hiram chuckled as he reached out to ruffle her hair, with two sets of hopeful eyes on him he nodded, "I'll called Mrs Lopez and see what we can do."

"Thanks Daddy!" Rachel beamed, her palms clapping down on the table in excitement she waited for her Dads to leave the room before she turned to face Santana. She frowned a little when she saw Santana had already returned to her drawings, her head bowed low as she curled her body away from her friend, with a pout Rachel asked, "Santana? What's the matter?"

"Nothing." Santana mumbled.

Rachel shook her head, not accepting the answer she reached out and carefully took the hand Santana was clutching her crayon in, away from the paper. She knew her friend was trying really hard not to look at her so with a little more effort Rachel wormed her way so she was half sitting on Santana's chair between the girl and the table, "You can tell me."

"I-I…I wish I was like Brittany." Santana mumbled as she looked at her friend.

"I like Brittany; she wears silly hats and goes up the slide instead of down. She's fun." Rachel stated with a shy smile, "But why would you want to be her? You're you. And I like you even more, you always give me half of your cookies and you switch gloves with me so we each get a yellow and a green one."

Santana smiled, she remembered the time she had gotten home with one of her own green and black striped gloves and one of Rachel's with gold stars on. Her Abuela had laughed at her and said she looked silly but Santana didn't care because the whole day she and Rachel had held hands so they matched.

"Santana?"

The little girl shrugged as she whispered, "I'm not like everyone else."

"No, you're better." Rachel explained. She didn't really understand why Santana was so concerned with everyone else.

Santana shook her head, her eyes focused on her friend she argued, "But I say things wrong and sometimes I forget my words and I…I don't look like the others."

"I think you're pretty." Rachel answered immediately, "You have big eyes and your hair is all shiny."

"But that boy said I…I looked dirty." Santana cried her tiny frame shaking as she stared down at her hand that was still in Rachel's grasp. She had never paid much attention to it before, the way her skin didn't match her friends.

Rachel scowled as she remembered the way he had sneered at Santana, "Well he is just a stupid boy. I know you way better and I think you're perfect just the way you are."

"You do?" Santana asked tentatively, her cheeks flushing red as she stared at her friend with wide eyes.

"Of course." Rachel stated with a grin as she pried the crayon from Santana's hand and carefully turned towards the paper on the table. She quickly sketched a person with a yellow coat, "This is me…", and then with equal care she drew a second one, slightly taller this time, "And this is you." Joining their little stick hands together she abandoned her crayon for a different one, scattered amongst the others on the table she found what she was looking for and giggled as the red outlined a heart, "We can play together forever and watch cartoons and eat cookies. When we're old we can get a dog…", throwing her crayon down in favour of another she attempted to draw a puppy but frowned as it didn't work, "Or...well, maybe a fish?"

Santana giggled as she scooted closer to the table, her body squeezed next to her friends as they shared a chair, "Can we have a kitty?"

"Two kitties!" Rachel cheered, her smile widening as she watched Santana picked up her own crayon and quickly add two cats next to Rachel's misshapen dog and fish, "And I'll sing every night for people on a big stage and they'll give me lots of money so we can live in a nice house."

"You promise?" Santana whispered as she turned her head to look at Rachel.

Rachel smiled wider than she ever had and tipping forward quickly she pressed her lips against Santana's. She had seen her Daddies do it sometimes, especially when one of them wanted to make the other one happy and she could think of nothing she wanted more than to make Santana happy all the time. She didn't know how long she was supposed to stay with her mouth squashed against Santana's but it gave a her a nice warm feeling in her belly, like when she got her first bike from Santa or when he Daddy made her a giant birthday cake. So she waited, her smile eventually turning into a giggle she broke the kiss.

"You taste like marshmallows." Santana pointed out with a toothy grin, "I like it. I like you, you're the best."

"And I like you too...times infinity."

Santana giggled as she reached out to take Rachel's hand, "Infinity and one."


End file.
